


forest for the trees

by anthropologicalhands



Category: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-11-06 22:37:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17948441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anthropologicalhands/pseuds/anthropologicalhands
Summary: A few simple actions can be better than the most eloquent love letters.





	forest for the trees

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a ficlet for the Valentine's Day prompt for [femslash february heather/valencia prompts](http://catty-words.tumblr.com/post/182040572775/femslash-february), except that I was late getting it out and also the prompt, "love letters", vanished about halfway through and could now only be squeezed into the summary, so it's more in the spirit of the thing than a direct response. 
> 
> Shout out to [catty-words](http://catty-words.tumblr.com) \- this was a great list and it was really fun seeing all the ficlets and art unfold!

Heather is setting down the last of the serving dishes at the kitchen table when she hears Valencia’s key turn in the lock.

“Oh my God. What happened in here?”

Heather looks up to find Valencia at the door, only one foot through the threshold, just staring at the arrangement. Heather admits that it is a pretty impressive sight, with dozens of flickering candles clustered at the center of the table, on the counters and even floating in bowls of water. The room in general that has been transformed into a candlelit fantasyland. Candles not just in red and white and pink but oxblood and vanilla and carnation. And that doesn’t even begin to touch on the roses.

Heather is quite proud of the roses, actually: all arranged elegantly in non-candlelit spaces without the possibility of becoming potential fire hazards.

“It’s Valentine’s Day, obviously,” says Heather. “Didn’t you want to eat in because of your appointment with Hilda the Heinous?”

“Oh, I remember,” says Valencia, getting over her shock long enough to get inside and enter the kitchen proper, still staring in awe at the decorations. “But oh my _God_. How long did this take you? How much did it cost?” There’s a faint edge of horror to her question—Heather doesn’t entirely blame her, given the apparent bloodthirstiness of the florists Valencia has been contending with in her quest to wrangle vendors.

“Not long. I mean, getting everything was pretty easy, I already had to order roses and stuff in bulk for Home Base anyways –turns out people get really disappointed if you don’t do appropriate holiday dressing.”

“Oh.” Valencia cocks her head to the side, one hand reaching out and absently brushing the petals of the nearest arrangement. “I thought you were just going to hang a lot of banners with jokes about getting to the right bases. What happened there?”

“Yeah, I wanted to do that, but those parents who come in and drink in the middle of the afternoon get _really_ uptight about mild innuendo, so…paper hearts and a million roses it is.”

Heather leans back, watching as Valencia walks through the kitchen, clearly impressed by everything she is seeing. She’s smiling softly, eyes alight. But then, for no discernable reason that Heather can see, Valencia pauses, and her smile slips right off.

“Everything okay?” asks Heather, her concern not quite breaking through her layer of chill, but her skin prickles with unease.

“This isn’t about what I said last week, is it?” asks Valencia, sounding surprisingly timid.

“What?”

“You know, the whole…missing the trees for the forest thing? You were talking about seeing the big picture, not getting stuck on the details, and then I said—”

“That someone needs to tend to the trees, or else you miss the wood rot and the next thing you know the whole copse is dead,” finishes Heather. “Yeah, it was a very vivid image.”

“Thanks, I’m taking that new tutorial for—”

“Puns. Yeah, I know. I appreciate the good wordplay.”

“Right. Thanks.” Valencia twists at her purse strap, clearly still uneasy, and Heather isn’t quite sure why. Valencia is easy for her to read, and to not have that is unsettling.

“Vee, are you okay with this? Did I miss something?”

Valencia’s eyes, which had been vaguely scanning over the column of candles near Estrella, now snap back to meet Heather’s, surprised and mildly affronted; Heather feels herself relax a little bit because _this_ Valencia, she can deal with.

“No! No, this looks _so nice,_ I really do love it.” She sounds sincere, but still not entirely happy.

“Okay. Now that we have that settled, what’s wrong? You don’t seem happy.”

Valencia sighs, and rubs her forehead.

“I just want to know…that _you_ know that I wasn’t…fishing for some big romantic thing for today, right?”

“Yeah, obviously—you don’t do that. You tell me what you want. It’s a key character trait. Why are you worried about that now?”

Valencia shrugs sheepishly. “I don’t know—well, I do know that, in the past, I have placed a lot of emphasis on doing things right and assuming that the appearance of success guaranteed it.”

Heather arches an eyebrow at her. “When I have ever felt obligated to do anything?”

Valencia giggles. “That’s very true.”

“See? But just because I don’t feel obligated, doesn’t mean I can’t take care of the details.” Heather folds her arms and leans back elegantly in her chair, more relieved than she would have thought to see how Valencia smiles. “And, I mean, you did have a point. I don’t miss stuff, but I won’t act on them, which can be not great in its own way and, like, I need to work on that. A forest is only a forest if there are trees and we need to make sure the trees are healthy. So, this is me…doing tree maintenance.”

Valencia grins. “Nice. You know, you have some sexy wordplay going on yourself.”

“What can I say? I’m good with the outdoorsy puns.”

“Yeah you are,” agrees Valencia, setting her bag on the counter. “And, to be fair, you were right about me, too. I might have a tendency to get a _little_ obsessed with the details. Minor tunnel vision.”

“I mean, I’m not objecting,” says Heather, with a slight smile and raising her eyebrows. “It’s one of my favorite qualities about you. Intense focus. Telling me _exactly_ what you’re looking for. It’s kind of fun and definitely sexy.”

Valencia preens.

“Also, I kind of remembered that given your past relationship history, it might be good to show that I do pay attention to the little things you like and do,” adds Heather. “And not because I’m scared of what you’ll do to me if I don’t. It’s because I care about you and I want to make you happy.”

Valencia melts, breaking out into a genuine, full-bodied smile that lights her up from the outside in.

“I love you too, Heather.”

She leans in and kisses Heather, tasting her lipstick, her hand coming up to brush her thumb against Heather’s cheekbone, palms cupping Heather’s jaw. She shivers pleasantly when Heather leans into it, arms tightening around Valencia’s waist, only to abruptly pull away, eliciting a displeased grunt from Heather.

“Right,” agrees Valencia, leaning back in, but still annoyingly not resuming any kissing. “Uh, so before we get into this, where’s Rebecca? Is she out for the evening?”

Heather raises her eyebrows pointedly at her. “Didn’t I tell you I took care of the details? She’s already promised not to stand in the way of romance tonight. Her words,” she adds, when Valencia’s expression briefly morphs from searching to outright skeptical. “Not mine.”

Valencia relaxes slightly, sinking further into Heather. “Good. And, to be clear, she _definitely_ won’t be back for the rest of the night?”

Heather smirks. “Nope. She has some tree maintenance of her own. And when she does that, she likes spending the night all up in the branches. Which lets _us_ stop beating around the bush, and just—”

“Get it on?” supplies Valencia, with a quirked brow.

“You know the song,” says Heather, and tugs her back down.

 


End file.
